Everest 24: New Views on the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition

Commemorating the 100th anniversary of an enduring Everest mystery, this book sheds new light on the ill-fated 1924 Mount Everest expedition

Features unseen and rarely seen expedition images and cultural perspectives on the world's highest mountain

When British explorers George Mallory and Andrew Irvine attempted to become the first to summit Mount Everest in 1924, they disappeared without a trace. In 1999, Mallory's body was discovered; Irvine's still has not been found. The sweeping Everest 24 offers new insight into their dangerous journey, with contributions from leading experts who present contemporary views on Everest, share the overlooked stories of the Indigenous participants integral to expeditions, and explore the mountain's ecological and cultural meanings in captivating new essays.

The book is fully illustrated with maps, hand-tinted photographs, and never-before-published photos that capture the striking beauty of the mountain; the adventurous spirit of its climbers; and the resiliency of the local Indigenous guides and porters. Everest 24 contrasts the British desperation to claim Mount Everest as the "Third Pole" with the local communities' spiritual relationship to the mountain. The book also features:

• A foreword from Norbu Tenzing, son of one of the first two people known to reach the summit of Mount Everest

• Artifacts discovered on George Mallory's body
• Images taken by George Mallory on his first expedition in 1921

• John B. Noel's hand-colored lantern slides and film stills from his 1924 documentary The Epic of Everest

• Original expedition correspondence

Authoritative, striking, and immersive, Everest 24 is a remarkable tribute not only to the ill-fated expedition of 1924, but the majestic mountain itself and the human compulsion to chart the uncharted.

Author: Norbu Tenzing
Publisher: Smithsonian Books
Published: 05/14/2024
Pages: 192
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
ISBN: 9781588347824


Review Citation(s):
Booklist 04/01/2024 pg. 13

About the Author
NORBU TENZING is the son of Tenzing Norgay who, along with Sir Edmund Hillary, was the first to summit Everest in 1953. PETER GILMAN is an award-winning mountaineering writer, Sunday Times journalist, and author of the George Mallory biography The Wildest Dream. PETER H. HANSEN is the author of The Summits of Modern Man. SARAY KHUMALO is a mountaineer and explorer, and the first Black African woman to summit Mount Everest. JONATHON WESTAWAY is the Senior Research Fellow at the University of Lancaster who specializes in the history of mountaineering and the imperial cultures of exploration.